Mid Mon Valley Cultural Trust advocates Arts and Entertainment Economic Development Strategy

Charleroi Arts and Entertainment Economic Development

And Repositioning Strategy

April 1, 2013

Current Conditions

The commercial vacancy rate in downtown Charleroi is approximately twenty five percent between 2^nd and 7^th streets along McKean and Fallowfield Avenues.  Many of the buildings are in need of comprehensive rehabilitation efforts to make them viable units.  In many cases, the upper floor apartments have not been rented in years and may present code issues that will need to be resolved before the units can be occupied.

The Coyle Theater closed in 1999 and has not played a significant role in the revitalization. The Theater is owned by the Mid Mon Valley Cultural Trust.

Strategy

To implement an arts occupancy based real estate strategy to promote additional occupancy and vibrancy. The Coyle Theater could act as an anchor for the downtown when the project is completed.  The theater is capable of generating nighttime foot traffic on the street both before and after shows.  The Mid Mon Valley Cultural Trust plans to follow the recommendations for the 1988 study and concentrate primarily on films with occasional concerts. 

Regular foot traffic will increase during the week with peak attendance on Friday and Saturday night.  The increase in foot traffic in the twilight and night-time hours will supplement the strong daytime lunch foot traffic to make the make retail and restaurant rentals in the town more appealing.

Prior to the theater opening there will need to be an increase in evening foot traffic to enable the to make the theater more appealing by creating a regular pattern usage of the downtown. A regular series of promotions in the evening hours to establish a “standard event” will enable the theater, when it opens to be the anchor of the strategy and not a solitary entity.

The downtown is in an enterprise zone.  There will be twenty five percent (25%) tax credits available for investment in commercial portions of buildings.  Additional tax credits on a state and federal level for the historic restoration of the buildings in the national register district could result in as much as sixty five percent (65%) in tax credits on some portions of the buildings.

The real estate in the downtown is undervalued and has a high commercial vacancy rate, which will make it attractive to artists. A plan for development of an arts district would hasten the activity.  In conjunction with a concerted effort to establish more foot traffic in the evening, arts retail and hospitality industries could grow. 

Implementing a program of Technical assistance in securing the funding, tax credits and other incentives could increase real estate activity creating more of a demand. Coordination with property owners, organizations providing incentives and perspective tenants will enable the strategy to be implemented in a framework that is geared toward everyone having access to the same information and understanding.

Mid Mon Valley Cultural Trust to seek designation

The Mid Mon Valley Cultural Trust will be seeking Special Program Priorities status for the Coyle Theater project.  This would entitle them to secure a 75% tax credit for corporate contributions

The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (the “Department” or “DCED”) is authorized to administer the Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) under Article XIX-A of the Tax Reform Code of 1971, known as the Neighborhood Assistance Act (Act 48-1994) (72 P.S. §8901-A, et. seq.), as amended. There are five components to this program: the Neighborhood Assistance Program Regular Tax Credit (NAP Regular), the Special Program Priorities (SPP), the Neighborhood Partnership Program (NPP), the Enterprise Zone Program Tax Credit (EZP), and the Charitable Food Program (CFP).

The goal of the Neighborhood Assistance Program is to improve distressed neighborhoods throughout the state by using tax credits as an incentive to forge partnerships between community-based organizations and the business community. Started in 1967, NAP was the first program of its kind in the United States and became a national model, with 10 other states implementing a similar state program. NAP uses the funds invested by the private sector for a wide range of programs and projects that improve conditions in communities, making them better places to live.

Amendments to the Tax Reform Code, also known as Act 55 which passed in 2007, made several changes to the program, not the least of which was highlighting the original legislative intent that NAP assistance be used for place-based approaches and community development efforts. The NAP-supported activities should target a geographically-defined distressed area within a city or an entire community. Those activities should have measurable impact or outcomes that improve the physical and/or economic conditions of that targeted place. While the activities supported may include a variety of human/social services, those activities must demonstrate that a targeted distressed place (neighborhood or community) will experience improvements that make for a better place to live. Additionally, Act 55 made other key improvements:

·     Increased the tax credit percentages

·     Raised the tax credit limit on the maximum amount of credits a firm can receive

·     Expanded eligibility to subchapter S corporations, limited liability corporations and partnerships

·     Authorized the sale or transfer of unused credits

The purpose of these guidelines is to define the eligibility requirements and procedures necessary for neighborhood organizations and business firms to utilize or obtain tax credits for approved projects that will improve distressed areas under the NAP Regular and SPP tax credit components. Separate guidelines are issued for the NPP, EZP, and CFP components of NAP. Check those guidelines for specifics and program requirements for those components.

NAP tax credits can be used in support of projects approved by the Department when a business firm makes a contribution to a neighborhood organization for such an approved project. The tax credits awarded to a business firm are up to 55% for NAP Regular (or up to 75% for SPP) of the amount of a business firm’s contribution to the project. To receive the credits the business firm must also file a separate application with the Department that is then forwarded to the PA Department of Revenue. Contributions that are eligible for a tax credit include contributions undertaking an approved project for Affordable Housing, Community Economic Development, Community Services, Education, Neighborhood Assistance, Neighborhood Conservation, Crime Prevention or Job Training.

Trust submits grant applications

The organization has moved in a number of directions after the loss of the funding because of grant matching problems. There has been an application to the Pennsylvania History and Museum Commission for $25,000 packaged with a $25,000 grant application from the Washington County Tourist Bureau to fix the roof on the theater.  The Trust submitted an application for $15,000, through the Borough of Charleroi, to sponsor more events in the downtown to build regular foot traffic on Friday Night. The Trust has also identified funding to enable them to perform the asbestos abatement activities in the theater.

The organization has hired a consultant to perform an internal audit of the dollars spent over the last few years.  The organization, although active, has not raised a lot of money and was not subject to filing annual audits.  Once the internal audit is complete, the information will be given to a CPA to perform a multi-year audit through December 2012.

Arts and Entertainment District Initial Steps

Arts and Entertainment District Initial Steps:

1.     Meet with property owners and members of the cultural, civic, business communities to discuss the Coyle Theater, cultural planning, methods, costs, benefits, and feasibility. Explain reasons for planning the merging of arts and entertainment into an economic development strategy for the borough.

2.     Meet with the Borough of Charleroi, Washington County planning agencies, Mon Valley Initiative and other public or private entities working on economic development. Secure authorization from elected officials for economic development planning.

3.     Identify information needs and sources; collect existing information (market analysis reports, Coyle Theater feasibility and theater related studies, economic development planning studies, historic preservation studies, economic development reports, other plans).

4.     Collect new information with interviews, focus groups, public meetings, and surveys.

Strategic Repositioning through Arts and Culture:

·       The Role of Culture and the Arts as it relates to Coyle Theater development

·       Engage community to recognize importance of culture, art and sense of place

·       Integrate arts, culture, and community economic development

·       Stimulate retail and hospitality trade through cultural tourism

·       Attract investment by creating live/work areas for artists

·       Diversify the local economy with additional arts retail locations

·       Work to improve historic properties and enhance values

·       Promote interaction in public space

·       Increase participation through celebrations and standard events

·       Engage youth population for ideas

·       Promote stewardship and sense of place

Process:

·       Assess situation and establish goals

·       Define the community

·       Identify strengths and leadership capacity

·       Identify community assets

·       Create a map of community assets

·       Identify and recruit effective partners

·       Develop expectations for potential partners

·       Build group cohesion

·       Identify project outcomes

·       Attach measures to outcomes

·       Generate a list of activities to include:

o   Theater Strategic Planning

o   Recruiting Artists, Art Businesses and industries

o   Enhancing creative and entertainment experiences

o   Preserving Local Heritage

o   Providing critical support to artists and cultural entities

o   Developing and promoting tourism initiatives

o   Indentify and work with presenting organizations

o   Expand funding and partnerships

Building History and Description

Building History and Description

Robert Coyle built the Coyle Theater about 1895 in a Belgian Renaissance Revival style as a 44' x 100' brick street front building with an auditorium on the second level. Large bracketed wood gabled trusses spanned the width of the auditorium roof. Sometime before 1911 a small central balcony was removed from the facade at the second floor and a canopy supported by chains was added about ^two thirds of the way up the street level fenestration.

In 1927 the theater was reconstructed. This reconstruction probably included extension of the building through the 22' alley to the East of the existing theater. A large steel beam was placed along the length of the removed Eastern wall to carry the ends of the large wooden trusses and to bear the load of steel beams supporting a new ceiling in the auditorium and a new flat roof over the 22' wide addition. The central gable feature was removed from the facade and the large arched windows were closed with masonry on the third floor. The canopy was extended the width of the building. The entire interior must have been constructed new within the stretched exterior shell as part of this reconstruction. A street-level auditorium with an orchestra pit, and a large balcony were constructed to serve a vaudeville and movie audience.

1938-1939 saw redesign of the interior in a subdued Art Deco style with fabric on the walls, acoustic tile on the proscenium, and air conditioning added. At this time, the canopy was also probably given its deco-style marquee cover and a large vertical illuminated "movie house" style sign was added. The theater has probably not been altered much since, except for some renovations to the front lobby and concessions area completed since 1980.